Till It Happens Pt 2
Thursday
He feels annoyed and angry; and is surprised by the bitter jealousy that erupts from within him at the sight of her in the arms of another man. He watches the couple from his spot and tries to pull his eyes away but can't. He wants nothing more than to walk out of this place. No, that's a lie. He wants nothing more than to grab her by the waist, kiss her lips, and claim her in front of all those around them. The urge to go to her is so strong that he finds himself cursing his decision to run; cursing his decision to let her run. The beautiful model on his arm notices that his attention is else where. She calls out his name and lightly shakes his arm to make him turn to her. He offers her a weak smile and a silent apology. As they make their way through the crowd he can't stop his eyes from searching for her.
She feels him watching her; feels his eyes following her among the crowd. She's tempted at first to look back at him but she resists. She instead plays it coy, and pretends not to even notice his presence. She bits the inside of her cheek to quiet the sudden craving she has to be beside him. She should have known this wasn't going to work. Should have known they were already far too deep to simply walk away. As the event drags on she can no longer resist the urge to search for him. She catches his eyes within moments and smirks before turning away. Her attention momentarily returns to the man whose arm she is holding. He's still watching her and she relishes every second of it.
He sees her smile and knows that her thoughts are filled with him just as his are filled with her. He mumbles something to the woman on his arm before moving away from her. His target within his sight; He lets no one deter him from his destination.
She feels someone behind her and knows it's him without needing to turn around. She can feel his breath against her ear as he whispers to her. She bits back her smile as she turns and finds him already gone. She makes her way towards the door, and doesn't bother to inform her date of her departure. She finds him alone in the hallway. She expects him to wait for her to step into a car before jumping into another one and following hers; but he surprises her when he grabs her by the waist and pulls her against him as his tastes her lips. Suddenly she doesn't care who sees them, doesn't care who finds out. He pulls away and leads her to a car ending their futile 3 day long separation.
Friday
She can sense the fear and worry that has quickly began to consume him. She turns towards him and grabs hold of his hand as the elevator reaches their floor. While she understands his feelings of anxiety, she can't help but wonder if a hint of regret lies within him. Almost as if sensing her thoughts, he turns and smiles at her. She squeezes his hand for a moment before attempting to let it go as the doors open, but he holds on to her. She looks forward and takes a deep breath standing there for a few seconds longer before they both step through the doors. Instantly they can feel dozens of eyes on them as they make their way through the hallways. No one speaks a word to them, but soft whispers seem to echo with their foot steps.
He feels her hand twitch in his as her grip tightens. He can almost hear his heart racing in his chest as they pass by a wide eyed Amanda, who at the moment was failing in her attempt to control the level of her voice. For the first time that day a chuckle escapes from his lips, slightly lightening his mood but only temporarily. They walk pass a smirking Marc, whose eyes tell them that he had already suspected this long ago. Wilhelmina ignores him, even as the other man follows them into her office. Daniel whispers a few quiet words to her before softly kissing her lips, causing the whispers to become almost deafening. He can tell she's surprised by the kiss and only winks in response to the question in her eyes. He turns and leaves, his posture quickly changes as he contemplates what is about to happen.
When he enters his office he is not surprised to find his mother waiting. She looks at him with questioning eyes. He looks away unable to hold her gaze. In that moment she knows that it's all true. He looks back at her and opens his mouth to give her some sort of explanation, but the feel of her hand colliding into his face stops him from doing so. There are tears in her eyes as she shakes her head in disbelief. He tries to reach for her but she quickly moves away from him as if his touch could somehow harm her. He watches as she turns and leaves. He looks through the glass and sees Betty's face. There's no anger in her eyes just confusion and disbelief. He stands there expecting her to enter the room, expecting her to question his sanity, but she doesn't. Instead she just sits there staring at his defeated form. Daniel moves to sit behind his desk. He falls onto his chair ungracefully as he stares blankly at an imaginary object in front of him. His eyes begin to water as pain, sadness, and shame creep into his heart. It hurts more than he had expected, but just as much as it should have.
Saturday
He's yelling again but she's not in the mood for another one of their fights. She's not in the mood for a shouting match, or a whose screwing up the relationship more contest. She just wants to go to bed and put this whole day behind her; but clearly he has other plans. He follows her into what has become their bedroom. He's demanding she listen to him, demanding she explain herself, but she simply ignores him. She begins to slowly remove her jewelry, her body moving as if she were in water. She feels like they have done this a thousand times before; heated arguments that always end up causing more harm than good.
It takes her a moment to realize that he has stopped yelling, stopped talking in general. She turns to him and finds him just staring at her. His jaw is clenched; body tense, eyes filled with barely controlled anger. She just watches him and waits. He's angrier than she's ever seen him before, and she knows that she should try to calm things down before either of them say or do something that would destroy what they've worked so hard to preserve; but she chooses not to. She lets him go on believing what the tabloids claim; lets him think that she's been with other men; lets him draw his own conclusion as to who and when.
She easily reads the threat in his eyes and silently tells him to go on and find solace the arms of another. She turns back around and does not try to stop him when she hears the door open. The silence is almost suffocating as she waits. If he leaves, she decides, it will mean that he never truly trusted her, never truly understood how deeply she felt for him. If he leaves, she decides, she will not cry, will not hurt, will not care. She can feel his hesitation as he stands in the doorway and closes her eyes a moment before she hears the door slam shut.
A sharp sting races through her as she wills her tears not to fall. Panic abruptly seizes hold of her as unwanted images emerge from her fears. She watches as his eyes travel, hands touch, lips kiss: the body of another. The pain is so intense that for a moment she forgets that it's not real, forgets that the pain truly lies within her mind, and not her body. Her thoughts and worries become overpowering as she struggles to take a calming breath. She curses herself for feeling this way; curses him for making her care this much. The pain only intensifies as she quickly becomes desperate in her desire to make it stop.
His name suddenly leaps from her lips as she hastily turns around races out of their bedroom. She finds him seconds later standing in front of the door with his hand on the knob as if frozen in stone. He turns to her when he hears her whisper his name. The unshed tears in her eyes threaten to fall as she stares at the pained expression on his face. She moves towards him with hurried steps. He simply stands there and watches her as if unsure what to do. When she reaches him she raises her left hand to lightly touch his face, his eyes briefly close of their own accord as he focuses solely on her caress. She kisses his lips and wills her touch to erase the sorrow from his eyes. He is pulled from his motionless state when he sees a tear roll down her cheek. He automatically reaches for her and tightly wraps his arms around her waist as the words that should have been said earlier flow from both their lips healing the damage their prides had caused, and mending both new and old wounds.
Sunday
She watches him as he stands in the kitchen trying to make her breakfast. He's making a mess and she is positive that he doesn't know what he's doing, but she lets him try. Lets him pretend that they're just another couple staying in on a lazy Sunday morning; lets herself pretend that things are as they should be, that this is who they are. He looks up at her and smiles. There's flour on his shirt, pieces of half cooked eggs on the counter, and pancake batter splattered on the floor, but she can't stop herself from smiling back. There's something endearing about his clearly misguided attempt to make her breakfast. For once she doesn't bother to push aside the feeling of contentment that rises inside of her as she makes her way closer to him.
He holds up a plate to her. She raises a questioning brow at it before shaking her head. Though it was thoughtful she still doesn't quite trust his cooking skills. He looks at her with a puppy dog face and she finds herself chuckling. He smiles again knowing he has her. She stares down at the plate, momentarily eyes the partially cooked pancakes then the overcooked eggs and settles on the lesser of the two evils. She grabs a piece of egg, and pops it into her mouth. It's slightly crunchy and so over salted that she has to stop herself from immediately spitting it back out. She forces a half smile on her face as she reluctantly swallows it. A beyond goofy grin covers his face as she tells him she likes it. Mentally a part of her is kicking herself and demanding to know why she's lying for his sake. She ignores the small voice that embodies a piece of her former self and instead focuses on the man in front of her.
He shrugs then grabs a piece of egg with the fork and bites it. Within seconds his face contorts before he quickly grabs a napkin and spits the offending egg out. She tries to stop herself from laughing but can't stop the chuckles from escaping from her lips.
He drops the plate into the sink as if it has committed some heinous crime, then turns to grab a bowl and a mug. He pours a generous amount of coffee into the mug and then fills the bowl with milk and cereal. He hands her the cup of the rich liquid she has become addicted to, before grabbing his bowl. A spoon piled high with the sugary substance is hastily shoved into his mouth as he tries to erase the memory of the eggs from his taste buds.
She lets out another chuckle as she walks away, heading towards the living room. She has never been one to spend a Sunday morning sitting in front of the television, especially when she could be spending that time working on MODE. However for the last couple of months or so she has been finding herself in this exact position; sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee in her hands, vaguely watching the images on the screen, with Daniel's arm wrapped around her keeping her close. She glances at him and watches as he expertly balances the bowl on his lap while he stares at the screen and continually spoons cereal into his mouth without needing to look down. He turns and catches her looking at him. As he opens his mouth she knows that he's about to make a conceited comment and quickly silences him with a kiss. She pulls away and whispers for him not to ruin the moment and settles back against him. She doesn't see the smile on his lips but knows it's there. As the minutes tick by she is hit with a sudden realization. This is no doubt a far cry from who they once were but this moment in time depicts exactly who they have become; just another couple staying in on a lazy Sunday morning.
THE END
Hope you enjoyed the story. It's kind of something different that's been on my mind for a little while now.